


Dogs of War

by IohannaFacTotum



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gladiators, Ancient Rome, Gladiators, M/M, Master/Slave, Porn With Plot, Resolved Sexual Tension, Sexual Tension, Slavery, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-12
Updated: 2015-03-12
Packaged: 2018-03-17 13:04:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3530423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IohannaFacTotum/pseuds/IohannaFacTotum
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Levi’s eyes met Erwin’s again as he stepped from the stage, falling easily off of it and joining the handful of victors. Erwin knew then who would be his champion, who would honor him and leave the Coliseum in victory. </i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dogs of War

**Author's Note:**

  * For [anaesthesia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/anaesthesia/gifts).



> This was given to me as a drabble prompt by erwinsboy on tumblr, who has been really aching for a gladiator AU! Sorry it took so long!!

The hot Roman sun blazed its noontime brightness above the courtyard, baking the vowed students alive. However, Levi thought, it was nothing compared to the rock quarry. He would take the sun reflecting off of soft grass and wooden swords rather than feel it sinking into the stone, heating it like the inside of an oven and kissing his rough hands with fire.

Even so, it was a hard day to be evaluated a final time. Today, a sponsor would be coming to observe their assessment, and every young man and woman in that courtyard hoped that they could outmatch the proctor and catch the sponsor’s eye. It was their next step to glory, and after glory came freedom for those who lived.

They were still training heavily, warming up for the evaluation to come just after a noon break. Levi had been paired with a man he’d never fought before. In the midst of the other mock battles already started, he and his opponent faced one another and nodded in acknowledgement.

The twacking of wooden poles and bodies against one another receded, their ears falling deaf to all but their own heartbeats against the drums, they eyes seeing only the way the other man’s chest rose and fell as they each took a deep breath, exhaled. Finally, his opponent swung.

There was little ruckus as the sponsor and his small escort – comprised of the mentor and the _lanista_ – entered the yard. He seemed to flow into the courtyard as water through an aqueduct, contained and poised and beautiful, fine silks draped over his broad shoulders. The sun glanced off of his fair hair and caught the curve of his sharp cheekbones, and he caught many an eye, but Levi’s was not one of them. He hadn’t even noticed the entrance of the sharply dressed and decorated General Smith until he heard the _lanista_ speak as they drew close.

As they passed the battling contestants, the _lanista_ commented on each of them, selling their best traits and warning the sponsor of weaknesses that may make them hard to keep, honoring his reputation as an honest and fair man. For each one, Erwin asked questions. He asked where they were from, how many battles they had won, how their stamina held in intensive training in the summer heat. But as they approached Levi and his foe Erwin did not inspect them so thoroughly, from so many angles. He seemed content simply to watch.

“Levi is our star pupil,” he said proudly, a smile on his face as Erwin appraised the man. “His is small, but very quick and handy with a sword. Surprisingly enough, he is among our strongest students.”

Erwin asked no questions. He watched Levi carefully, admiring the way his body seemed to follow his sword as though it were an extension of his own arm. It was a beautiful kind of control, an admirable and rare grace. When Erwin did not ask anything of him, the _lanista_ continued. “He is from the outskirts of the empire, captured while defending his homeland from your very troops with Isabel and Farlan there,” he said as he pointed at a young man, taller and less stout than Levi, who was currently doing battle with a feisty red-headed woman, “and enslaved in the rock quarry.”

“So he did not volunteer?”

“I would not say that,” the _lanista_ said excitedly. “We were leaving without him, and without Farlan. Until Levi turned and knocked one of Farlan’s teeth out. Seeing their brawl afterwards, we took them with us.”

Erwin laughed then, a low chuckle, though his eyes never left Levi’s dancing, dangerous body. “That is precisely the kind of mettle I’m looking for,” he said as Levi slid to the ground and knocked his schoolmate to the ground, kicking his feet right out from under him. He rose and pointed the end of the wooden shaft at his throat, breathing heavily. Only then did he look up to Erwin, a challenge buried in his bright eyes, a fire lit with such violence and determination that Erwin could not look away. With their eyes still locked, Erwin’s lips turned up in a satisfied smile.

“It is my understanding that the Coliseum will open within a year,” the _lanista_ asked him, pulling him from those burning, grey coals in the gladiator’s skull.

“Likely less than two,” Erwin admitted, though he nodded his head in affirmation.

“And that is why you are here, correct? To select those worthy of fighting before Titus and the Emperor?”

Erwin again nodded. “They will come to fight for me,” he replied, “until the Coliseum is finished.”

The _lanista_ grinned, excited at the prospect of having his own students in the opening ceremonies of the immense concrete structure imposing upon the center of Rome. He clapped his hands together. “That is wonderful to hear,” he announced. “Their final evaluation will begin at once, and I presume you will take your pick at the end of the day.” He passed Levi then, continuing on to the other gladiators in training, but Erwin remained, watching Levi as he helped his fallen classmate to his feet.

 

With a clap of the _lanista_ ’s hands, the men and handful of women lined up at a small scaffold surrounded by a thick layer of hay. They stood in a perfect line in front of the ladder, and atop the wooden platform stood a man in full armor and armed with a wooden sword, a _murmillone_. He beat his chest with his fist and stood, his shoulders back and chest puffed out as the first student climbed to the top.

Although Erwin watched all of the matches, he already had an idea of those who would prevail over the armored proctor.

Farlan was the first of the small handful, and although he was a little heavy handed, he was small enough that he could easily deflect the _murmillone_ ’s blows and move in with swings of his own. At last, the _murmillone_ lowered his weapon and Farlan jumped down.

Isabel’s match was shorter. She was quicker, even, than Farlan, and much more ferocious. She didn’t need a shield, and never gave the proctor a moment to put his down. With wild swings and fierce cries, she harried the man until at last he lost his balance and fell to a knee. Gleefully, grinning, she leapt down to join her comrade, seeming no more spent than she had when she climbed the scaffold.

One or two others triumphed over the armored soldier, earning their spots to the winner’s side, but the overwhelming number of contestants failed, knocked into the hay, and limped back into the school.

By the time Levi rose to the platform, a new _murmillone_ had replaced the old, tiring one. He was fresh and ready and larger than the first, an immense mass of rippling muscle. Erwin worried for Levi’s success, but the small, dark-haired man seemed unperturbed. Erwin watched more attentively than before, and even the _lanista_ seemed interested in how Levi would handle the formidable meatsack in front of him.

What they saw shocked them. Not even the _lanista_ had seen Levi move so quickly, so elegantly. With no shield, he moved with the quickness of Isabel but without her blind fury, landing hits that she could not. He was calculated, as though he could see how the proctor would move, how he would parry and swing and fall, and he used every small motion to his advantage, expanding on each attack, never losing momentum. Even after he swung and knocked the sword from the man’s hand, he did not stop until the enormous _murmillone_ stumbled back and fell off of the stage, into the hay he had knocked so many young fighters into without remorse.

Levi’s eyes met Erwin’s again as he stepped from the stage, falling easily off of it and joining the handful of victors.

Erwin knew then who would be his champion, who would honor him and leave the Coliseum in victory.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and Comments increase your chances of me deciding on a happy ending for this //shot


End file.
